When "Raiders of the Lost Ark" premiered in June 1981, it just wasn't a two hour thrill ride of a film for me, it became a lifelong friend. Indiana Jones would inspire me, create memories and friendships, and even lead to a bizarre photography incident with Harrison Ford himself!
From meeting fellow Indyfans to cast and crew, artist and writers to the man with the hat himself - this article has it all! Beyond the films, it tells how Indiana Jones is more than just a great series of action films, but really a force in many folk's lives to do some good.
So if you want to find out when you turn a hobby into something more, then read on and discover that if adventure (and great memories) does indeed have a name . . . it must be Indiana Jones!
It’s Not the Years, It’s the Mileage – 30 Years of Being an Indyfan!
JUNE, 1981 NEW HAVEN, CT : Did I ever imagine when I begged my elderly, Italian grandmother to take me to the sneak preview of a movie called “Raiders of the Lost Ark” that it would alter my life for the next three decades? Did I expect her to go running out of the theatre when our hero, Indiana Jones was in an ancient temple surrounded by thousands of snakes? The answer to both of those burning questions is a resounding “NO”, but they both happened.
After seeing that film I realized I had just witnessed the first cool, onscreen, nerdy professor turn into a swashbuckling adventurer! He was smart, well educated and could kick butt! Heck, he even got the girl and he wore glasses! Sure there was Clark Kent, but let’s face it – he was an alien. Plus no matter how many times they said it, you never really did believe a man could fly. But Indiana Jones, he was different. You could actually grow up and be this guy, providing you had good medical insurance. So I immediately hit the books, and started getting A’s in History and Religion, and who knows maybe if I had the smarts, I could get in that big school in town that looked like where Indy taught, Yale. Not many movies make kids do better in school. Way to go, Dr. Jones!
MAY, 1984 Still in NEW HAVEN, CT High School graduation was fast upon me and the world outside looked pretty big and scary, but not as scary as theTemple of Doom! Indy was back for another thrill ride, but not with that hot brunette from the first film instead he had a screaming blonde and a little Asian sidekick? Life rafts falling out of airplanes? Chilled monkey brains? Hearts being ripped out? What the heck was this? Oh well, it was still the best thing on the screen and this time when I took my grandmother she sat in the theatre the whole time. Not so bad, Indy.
MAY, 1989 You got it - still in NEW HAVEN, CT College graduation, and no it wasn’t Yale, and this time the real world was here and with a degree in art, I thought I could at least draw movie posters and maybe even Marvel Comics about Indiana Jones if I couldn’t be him. I mean he always had new movies coming out, so there would be more to come, right? – LAST CRUSADE? Riding off into the sunset? Named after the dog? Indy don’t leave us! Well, Indy brought his Dad on this adventure and it had been years since I went to a movie with mine. I asked my Dad, and though he didn’t get around much since having a stroke, he agreed – only because he heard James Bond was in it. My Dad took me to my first movie when I was a kid, and little did I know seeing Indy would be the last one we would share together. Thanks, Indy!
FAST FORWARD almost ten years later. “Life goes on”, as Indy’s sidekick Sallah said in “Raiders”, and it does at a fast pace. Gone were the adventures of Indiana Jones as were my movies-going, dearly departed, grandmother and father, but the memories we shared of the silver screen were still there. Enter my lovely wife, Sharon, who after watching “Last Crusade” in 1989 turned and asked if I wanted to sit through it again, I knew then she would be the mother of my children someday. In April 1999, while attending a charity event in New York City I run into the man with the hat himself, the captain of the Millennium Falcon, the Fugitive, the President of the US, Jack Ryan and the toughest Amish ever – HARRISON FORD! After the fan gushing, mandatory autograph request and photo, my night was made. It was then I am handed an old 110 camera by an overzealous fan, who commands me to take a photo of her and Mr. Ford. Ford asks me to please oblige her quickly. What happens next I blame on the dark, some alcohol, or nervousness, but whatever the reason, I held the camera backwards and with a snap of the shutter and a blinding flash, heard Mr. Ford laughingly shout “You just took a picture of your eye”! Sorry, Indy! Let’s move on . . .
MAY, 2007 NEW HAVEN (again). Grey haired, be-speckled and slightly pudgy, I still speak of the thrilling adventures of Indiana Jones, but now as bedtime stories to my two little boys. Like a myth of old, I relate the stories of derring-do of the teacher with the whip. Some kids learn about Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in a tree, but never being chased by gun-totting Nazis! So, we went ahead and named our dog Indiana. Even making an Indy comic for a school project was just about all the new Indiana Jones action there would ever be. . . or so I thought!
Then one day, I pick up the newspaper to see the impossible. INDIANA JONES IS COMING BACK! Indy is returning to the silver screen – and unbelievably to film scenes in NEW HAVEN, CT! Life is weird that way. Even better they hold an open casting call for extras in the "Crystal Skull"! Though I don’t get the extra part after a valid attempt that lands the boys and me in Entertainment Weekly magazine, I take my family to see the set and the legendary film hero racing down the streets I grew up on! Could it really be? Indiana Jones was teaching at Marshall College (Yale) trying to escape the bad guys - HERE?! Welcome back, Indy!
Then something truly amazing is discovered. As I snap some non-spoiler, photos of the streets transformed to look like Indy’s world of1957 and share them online with some friends. Very quickly, I begin to get emails and meet Indyfans from Poland, Italy, Russia, Japan and other parts around the world all asking about Indiana Jones.
Since that spring in 2007, I have been part of a vast community of Indyfans of all ages and from all parts of the world. I began contributing articles to the world’s longest running and considerably “best” Indiana Jones website, TheRaider.net. Soon after another Indyfan from Australia, Ed Dolista, decides to start up a podcast called the IndyCast, and I come aboard writing features and interviews and soon get in on the action by recording my own segments. I start going out to conventions, and putting my professional skills at marketing and public relations to use. Fueled by a love for Indiana Jones, I soon start traveling and meeting Indiana Jones authors, comic book writers and artists, cast and crew (like the amazing Frank Darabont), fan filmmakers (like "Indyfans" director - Brandon Kleyla and "Indiana James and the Lost Shaker of Salt"s Tom Pimentel), theme park ride designers, and real life archeologists! Acting as the Indyfan reporter allows me to meet with fans like me who all share dreams of adventure inspired by Indiana Jones.
Besides, just gushing over great movie moments from the Indy films, I started to see how much the character had changed so many fan's lives and led them to be teachers, archeologists, actors and writers. Even more remarkable, none of them seemed to be chasing after "fortune and glory", but were trying to help the community around them. I myself got involved in the restoration of a 160 year old cemetery that had had suffered from years of neglect. The headstones and grave-markers of Irish-Americans who came to the Bridgeport, Connecticut in the mid 1800s were buried under several inches of grass and were forgotten. Fathers, mothers, children, Civil and Spanish American war veterans, immigrants and others had been buried under years of dirt and grass as if they never existed at all. Armed with some good old fashioned elbow grease and a spirit of "doing some good", a group of volunteers help recover over 400 stones. Knowing that I had help uncover a piece of history, and allowed the names of those who struggled so hard over a hundred years ago only to be forgotten, to have their names be read aloud in the land of the living was an amazing experience. Saving the St. Augustine Cemetery may not have been as huge as finding the Ark of the Covenant or Holy Grail, but it let everyone there feel a bit like Indiana Jones for a few moments.
As I type this I look up to see the framed movie posters of the Indy films and shelves filled Indiana Jones toys, books and collectibles I have picked up on my travels I am amazed by all the things that have happened along the way. Then there are photos from my travels, including a tour of Lucasfilm’s ILM where the magic of Indy’s special effects were created. Best of all are the memories of meeting the Indyfans who have enjoyed the podcasts and website articles. It’s like discovering long lost friends. Truly a treasure trove of experiences all due to that cool movie I saw in 1981 with my screaming grandmother! I guess its like Indy said thirty years ago; “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage” and what a great long trip it has been!
To read about the embarrassing Harrison Ford camera incident go here:http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/fan_meets_harrison_ford_81076.asp
The St. Augustine Cemetery Recovery can be found http://www.lynchonline.com/cemetery_bridgeport_st_augustine.php
Links to the St. Augustine Cemetery Recovery Day of Remembrance and Photos:http://www.lynchonline.com/st_augustine_cemetery_bridgeport_ct_remembrance.php
Links to TheRaider.net's and stories about New Haven and Indy 4:http://www.theraider.net/news/archives/indy4/2007l.php
The INDYCAST The only Indiana Jones Fan Podcast since 2007 is available here:http://www.forcecast.net/c-indycastnews.asp
Aid Fund For the Animals of Japan and Virtual Pets
Whilst writing the article below about artificial life becoming a reality in virtual pets and the way they respond to their avatar owners, I came across a fund raising site in Second Life that has just been set up to help the real life animals of Japan who also suffered the terrible consequences of the tsunami/earthquake.
After the disaster one media picture went all around the world, becoming a token of the bravery of the animals who have also lived through these awful times. The picture shows a dog standing guard over his injured canine companion. The dog protects his little friend, not letting anyone near him. I was happy to read that both the dogs have been rescued, and I think this SL charity fund called Project FUR Japan is a great idea to collect money for the animal rescuers. The Project FUR Japan information reads “Find exclusive and limited-edition items and help raise funds to aid animal rescue groups who are helping the thousands of animals lost and/or injured during the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Find out more about the Project FUR Japan event at: http://projectfurjapan.wordpress.com.”
I hope people travel over to The Project FUR Japan event and give generously if they can. Below is my story of how virtual animals are becoming more than just pixel cartoons, thanks to the clever people who make and script them:
Animals play a big part in lots of people’s lives, so it’s hardly surprising that people have created virtual pets in Second Life. Recently buying some SL land, I decided I needed some animals to add interest for visitors and also to make it more interesting for me too. Virtual animals are cleverly scripted to react to their avatar owners, or to just move around by themselves in the parcel of land where you place them. I’d been given a gift of a virtual Siamese kitten a while back and he’s just amazing; in many ways almost real. He will come over to my avatar and look up and make cat noises as if he’s talking to me. With the HUD driven menu you can feed him, bathe him, set him free to roam around, call him over, carry him or let him sleep. The thing that astonished me about him though, is that even without the HUD attached, he still comes over to me and follows me along the road. When I’ve logged out of SL he carries on without me. I remember when I had an apartment in Virtual Chelsea and left him running about there, when I logged back in, I was told that the little cat had ventured out into the street and kept the people company who were building there. He even fell asleep next to them. The Siamese kitten is made by a company called A.I.F. and they also make dogs and foxes as well as cats. You can get the latest script updates for free from them too, so once you buy a pet you have a virtual friend for life.
I went over to a sim called Animania to look at some wildlife for my virtual home, they specialise in birds and insects and they have an incredible selection to pick from. I was instantly taken with their range of parrots and the trouble they had taken to recreate the proper species of the parrot family. I bought a Blue and Gold Macaw, a Green Wing Macaw and a Hyacinth Macaw. You also purchase the parrot stands for your birds and the parrots walk along the perch, bobbing up and down just like real ones. They squawk too (you can switch the parrot noises off if you wish), and they also take off, flying at random around the sim. These particular macaws are so well copied from real life, their wing movements are extraordinary, gracefully flapping their wings and landing gently back onto their perches.
I built a pond on my land and whilst looking at the parrots at Animania, I decided to get some ducks too, to swim on the pond. I bought a pair of Mallard Ducks, I liked the Mallards as I used to feed the real version in St James Park in London a few years ago. Taking the virtual ones home, I put the first one into the pond. But disaster struck, as suddenly the duck took off and was gone out of sight. I actually got a message from the duck in text saying it was lost and couldn’t get back. I searched around, but without success, so I contacted Ani, a manager at Animania. Within a few minutes Ani came over to see me, and she was really helpful. She looked for the little duck too, but she couldn’t find him.
Looking at my newly dug pond Ani told me that the bottom wasn’t level enough and she thought that the duck had touched the ground triggering him to fly off.
Ani stayed for quite a while showing me how to build a swim area for the ducks, a clever invention to keep them within a certain range without them touching the edges of the pond. She also sent me a replacement duck for the one who went missing. After Ani had left disaster struck a second time, I tried to put the new duck into the pond and he went flying off into the distance too (It was my fault, I hadn’t set the swim area up properly as Ani had advised me to do). However, this time I was lucky and I had my SL camera trained on the duck, so I was able to see exactly where it had gone. For some reason the duck had headed for the next parcel of land belonging to Spooks Blackburn who owns Whitechapel 1888. To my utter astonishment I spotted the first ‘lost’ duck whilst picking up the new one. The first escapee duck had actually found some virtual water and was swimming happily around. Taking both ducks back into my inventory, I later returned the first one to Ani, thanking her for all her help. Afterwards I went back to Animania and bought a couple of little Mallard ducklings to go with the parents, and with the swim area set up properly this time, I set the family of Mallards into their new virtual pond home. If you rez the ducks in the proper order, the adults adopt the chicks and each other as well, swimming around in a family group. I also bought a duck feeder, a little wooden box, which I put at the side of the pond. If visitors come along and touch the feeder the duck food is scattered into the pond and the ducks then feed as you watch them.
I bought a blue butterfly to flutter among my wild flowers (also from Animania), and to complete my garden, a family of wild deer created by Jon Haskell, a truly gifted animal sculptor. They move their heads to feed and look very real.
So what is the point of virtual animals? Well for me they do add a little bit of life to an otherwise dead parcel of land. I like to see the macaws flying and the ducks swimming in the pond whilst hearing their calls. I also have some sounds that friend Hibiscus gave me too, so I can hear the ocean and the water lapping against the rocks where I built my shoreline. Max the Siamese kitten is real company in the virtual world too, visitors are always enchanted with him, telling me that he has followed them around too! If you like animals in real life, you will be sure to like virtual ones as well!
Project Fur Japan
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plumhill/134/144/30
A.I.F.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spinolds%20Flat/152/183/58
Animania
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Animania%20Island/198/124/21
Jon Haskell Sculpty Creations
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Extrem%20Island/173/53/26
Whitechapel 1888
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamaica%20Inn/224/58/24
My Gardens
No comments:
Post a Comment